Airports: Heathrow

Lord Soley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether representatives of Brazil, Russia, India and China have raised any concerns with civil servants in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about the lack of runway capacity at Heathrow or other British airports.

Lord Howell of Guildford: No concerns have been raised with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. However, the Department for Transport (DfT) has received representations about the difficulty in securing access to Heathrow, including landing slots. DfT published a scoping document in March 2011 seeking views/evidence from stakeholders on strategic aviation issues. DfT notified a number of London embassies/high commissions, including the above, about the aviation policy scoping exercise, encouraging them to respond directly to the DfT.

Alisha Thomas

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the public domain Coroner Roger Whittaker's report on the death of Alesha Thomas in 2009.

Lord McNally: The report issued by the then West Yorkshire (West) coroner under Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 (as amended) following the inquest into the death of Alesha Thomas was sent to the Lord Chancellor in accordance with the rule. Rule 43 reports are not published in full but are summarised in six-monthly bulletins of all Rule 43 reports and responses received which are published on the Ministry of Justice website. The Rule 43 report following the inquest into Alesha Thomas's death was included in the bulletin published on 10 March 2010. A copy of the full report, redacted in accordance with data protection requirements, is available on request from the Ministry of Justice.

Animals: Scientific Procedures

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in implementing each of the 16 recommendations of the Weatherall Report, published in 2006, on the use of non-human primates in research into the prevention or treatment of disease.

Baroness Wilcox: I will write to my noble friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Apprenticeships

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage (a) young people to enter further education, and (b) the availability of apprenticeships.

Baroness Wilcox: Subject to the passage of the Education Bill, schools will be under a duty to secure access to independent, impartial careers guidance for their pupils from September 2012. The guidance must include information on the full range of 16-18 education and training options, including apprenticeships. Schools will be free to determine how best to fulfil this duty, taking into account the needs of their pupils. In addition, we fund 16-19 provision and have pledged to continue fully funding Level 2 (GCSE equivalent) and Level 3 (A-level equivalent) programmes for young adults.
	The Government are strongly committed to investment in apprenticeships for young people including setting out clear routes to widen access. This includes establishing a new Access to Apprenticeships pathway within the programme to widen access for young people aged 16-24.

Armed Forces: Medals

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Victoria Crosses have been awarded since its inception.

Lord Astor of Hever: 1,359 Victoria Crosses (VCs) have been awarded since its inception in 1856, which includes:
	three Bars;two VCs of Australia;one VC of New Zealand; andone VC to the US Unknown Warrior.

Armed Forces: Staff

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the numbers of (a) officers, and (b) other ranks, serving in each of the Army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force, on 1 April in (1) 1980, (2) 1990, (3) 2000, (4) 2005, (5) 2010, and (6) 2011.

Lord Astor of Hever: The numbers of officers and other ranks in each of the three services is presented in the following table. The figures comprise both trained and untrained personnel, and are rounded to the nearest 10.
	
		
			 Strength of UK Regular Armed Forces, at 1 April each year 
			  1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2011 
			 Naval Service 71,940 63,250 42,850 39,940 38,730 37,660 
			 Officers 10,140 10,150 7,660 7,730 7,460 7,410 
			 Other Ranks 61,800 53,110 35,190 32,210 31,270 30,240 
			 Army 159,050 152,810 110,050 109,290 108,870 106,230 
			 Officers 17,040 17,440 13,870 14,660 14,640 14,760 
			 Other Ranks 142,010 135,380 96,180 94,630 94,230 91,470 
			 RAF 89,640 89,680 54,720 51,870 44,050 42,460 
			 Officers 14,790 15,270 10,990 10,620 9,820 9,660 
			 Other Ranks 74,850 74,410 43,730 41,250 34,230 32,810

Arms Export Controls

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government why, in their response to the First Report of the House of Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls, 2010-12, they have declined to support the introduction of legislation covering re-export of arms controls; and whether they will give this further consideration.

Baroness Wilcox: The Committees on Arms Export Controls First Joint Report of Session 2010-11 published on 5 April 2011 did not include a recommendation to introduce such legislation and therefore the Government's response to the report published on 7 July 2011 did not seek to address this issue.

Bahrain

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have about the current welfare and whereabouts of Dr Al Singace, who has been in detention in Bahrain.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are aware of the sentence received by Dr Al Singace and are deeply concerned by the nature of the charges brought against him and the 20 other political figures. We have not been able to establish the whereabouts of Dr Al Singace and have no specific information about his welfare.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my honourable friend Alistair Burt, made a statement on 22 June 2011 expressing his concern about the process surrounding the sentencing of the 21 opposition members, and the nature of many of the charges. He said he was deeply worried that civilians had been tried before tribunals chaired by a military judge, by the reports of abuse in detention, and by the lack of access to legal counsel and the coerced confessions.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 4 July (WA 2) concerning Project Merlin, whether the commitment and obligations are made and accepted by HSBC Bank Plc or HSBC Holdings Plc.

Lord Sassoon: The Project Merlin Banks' statement represents a collective commitment on the part of the major UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, and, in the context of lending, Santander).

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 7 July (WA 89), what are the tools available to hold the banks to the published lending commitments they made under Project Merlin.

Lord Sassoon: The Chancellor has made clear that the Government will use every tool available to hold the banks to the published lending commitments which they made. For example, the expectations, capacity and willingness relating to lending to small and medium-sized businesses will be given more weight in the performance metrics of the chief executives of each bank for 2011, as well as the leaders responsible for the relevant business areas, than the SME lending share of each bank's profits might otherwise imply.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the conclusion of the Bank for International Settlements that the current proposals under Solvency II are likely to have a significant adverse effect on the availability of equity finance for small and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure.

Lord Sassoon: Solvency II will require insurers to assess the risks they are exposed to on both the liability and the asset side of the balance sheet and to hold capital commensurate to the underlying risks. The European Commission has proposed a treatment of equity holdings, and of fixed income products, on the basis of an objective assessment of a 99.5 per cent probability (within a 1 year time horizon) that firms will be able to meet their obligations. This approach was confirmed when the Solvency II Directive was adopted in 2009.
	A wide range of international organisations have commented on the effects that Solvency II could have on the investment patterns of the European insurance industry, including on the availability of equity finance for small and medium-sized enterprises and on infrastructure.
	The Government give appropriate and proportionate weight to the views of such organisations when formulating its overall negotiating position.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government which body will determine the activities in which a ring-fenced retail bank can engage under the interim proposals made by the Independent Commission on Banking.

Lord Sassoon: The Government look forward to receiving the Independent Commission on Banking's final report on 12 September. The Government will then decide on the right course of action.

Banking: European Central Bank

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the extent of the United Kingdom's exposure in the event of a failure of the European Central Bank.

Lord Sassoon: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 29 June 2011 (OfficialReport, col. WA 422).

Banking: Iceland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 7 July (WA 90), whether they will ask the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to cease pressing those with unclaimed deposits from failed Icelandic banks to reclaim their money; how much in each of the failed banks has been deemed ineligible for compensation by the FSCS; and whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer has the power to withdraw the offer of repayment to those with deposits of over £50,000 that have not sought recompense.

Lord Sassoon: Contacting potential claimants in a failed institution is a matter for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which operates independently from Government.
	The Government do not hold information on ineligible deposits, which is also a matter for the FSCS.
	The previous Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that retail deposit holders in the failed Icelandic banks would be compensated in full. The Government intend to review this position once the banks' legal liability to customers ends.

Banking: Iceland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 11 July (WA 123), whether they have extrapolated and accumulated the amounts so far recovered from each of the failed Icelandic banks and the respective administrators' charges; and whether they will publish the totals in the Official Report.

Lord Sassoon: Recoveries from the Icelandic Accounts are provided in HM Treasury's 2010-11 annual accounts. Information on the Icelandic Banks can be found on pages 188 - 191. The accounts are available online at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/annual_report_accounts 140711.pdf
	As of 31 March 2011, a total of £275.5 million had been paid by the Heritable administrators and £1.6 billion by the KSF administrators, in respect of combined Financial Services Compensation Scheme and HM Treasury claims.
	The administrators' charges are deducted from the administration directly and are not paid by HM Treasury. These can be found in the administrators' reports, available online at:
	KSF
	www.kaupthingsingers.co.uk/Files/ CustomerCreditorInformation/KSF_Progress_Report_April_2011.pdf
	Heritable
	www.heritable.co.uk/Uploads/Documents/news/Eighth_Report.pdf
	Landsbanki
	www.lbi.is/library/Opin-gogn/skyrslan/Creditors_Meeting_19may2011_eng%20-%20open%20site.pdf

Banks: Stress Tests

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Financial Services Authority was fully consulted at all stages on the 2011 bank stress tests conducted by the European Banking Authority; and whether they agreed with the methodology and the proposed form of disclosure of the results.

Lord Sassoon: The Financial Services Authority (FSA), as a member of the European Banking Authority (EBA), has been closely involved with the stress test design and implementation.
	FSA involvement predates the establishment of the EBA at the beginning of 2011. The FSA has been involved in both the technical level of the stress test design and implementation, in the governance of the EBA through FSA representation at the EBA Board of Supervisors and Board of Management, and through the secondment of an FSA stress test expert to the EBA Quality Assurance Task Force, to help ensure consistent application of the stress test across EU banks.
	EBA decisions are made by the Board of Supervisors and inevitably involve some compromises to reach agreement. However, the FSA believes this year's EU-wide stress test is credible and robust, and, taken as a whole, is tougher than last year's Committee of European Banking Supervisors' stress tests, with a tough peer review process and a tighter definition of Core Tier 1 capital.
	The FSA believes in the value of transparency and orderly disclosures of relevant risk information to the market on a comparable basis. The EBA stress test and risk exposure disclosure templates should help market participants to reach better informed and more balanced judgments about the relative risk and soundness of individual financial institutions.

Benefits

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many citizens of other European Union countries have claimed welfare benefits from their own country of origin while residing in the United Kingdom.

Lord Freud: Under EU regulations on the co-ordination of social security for migrant workers, benefit entitlements are, broadly, determined by where a citizen has worked and paid their insurance contributions. If an EU citizen resident in the UK were claiming a benefit from their country of origin, that information is not required by my department unless that person is also trying to claim a benefit in the UK. There are therefore no figures available for such cases.

Bilderberg Organisation

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 28 June (WA 404) concerning the attendance of the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Bilderberg conference on 9-12 June, what is the purpose of the Bilderberg Organisation; what subjects are discussed at their conferences; whether these are conducted by an agenda; whether minutes of proceedings are published; and what benefits accrue to the United Kingdom from the participation of Ministers of the Crown in these conferences.

Lord Sassoon: The Bilderberg meetings are attended by politicians and business people from around the world who come together to discuss topics of significance for international policy makers. Ministers in previous Administrations have attended these meetings and they are also attended by former Ministers.
	Copies of any agenda and minutes of the meetings are not publicly available as they are part of ongoing policy formulation and their release could prejudice UK economic interests and international relations. The informal nature of discussions provides space for wide ranging discussions and for frank and candid exchange of views.
	Further information is available via the conference organiser's website: http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/meeting_20.

BSkyB

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether discussions between the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and News Corporation in connection with a possible bid for BSkyB have prejudiced the Secretary of State's freedom to refer the matter of the proposed bid to the Competition Commission.

Baroness Rawlings: Not at all. The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport announced on 11 July that the matter was being referred to the Competition Commission. The noble Lord will be aware that on 13 July News Corporation dropped its proposals to buy the remaining shares in BSkyB.

BSkyB

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are any legal impediments which would prevent the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport delaying for a year his decision on News Corporation's bid to buy the remaining shares in BSkyB.

Baroness Rawlings: The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport referred the matter to the Competition Commission for consideration on 11 July. However, as the noble Lord will be aware, on 13 July News Corporation dropped its proposals to buy the remaining shares in BSkyB. If the bid had not been withdrawn, on receipt of the Competition Commission's advice, the Secretary of State would have been able to take as long as necessary to make his decision.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of displaced people in Burma's Kachin State following the ending of the cease-fire agreement between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government are deeply concerned by reports that the ceasefire agreement in Kachin State has broken down, leading to renewed conflict and the internal displacement of up to 20,000 people, according to local sources. The number of people who may have crossed the China-Burma border as a result of the fighting is hard to determine as access to information about the situation on the ground is limited. We understand that conflict is reported to have started over local objections to a Chinese hydro-electric dam construction project, but tensions in ethnic areas are increasing following efforts by the Government to force armed ethnic groups to join a national border guard force.
	Our ambassador to Rangoon raised concerns with the Burmese Government on 9 and 10 June. We also remain in close contact with UN agencies and other organisations working in the areas affected by the fighting. We are clear that peace and stability in Burma can be achieved only through a process of genuinely inclusive dialogue that addresses the concerns and longstanding grievances of ethnic groups.

Businesses

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable viable firms to remain in business during the collection of revenues from the small and medium-sized business sector from HM Revenue and Customs.

Lord Sassoon: HMRC's Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) aims to provide a high-profile and fast-track gateway into the decision-making process for businesses seeking time to pay (TTP) and to give quick decisions in the simpler and lower risk cases. Between its launch in November 2008 and the end of March 2011, some 428,800 arrangements were granted through the BPSS, involving £7.37 billion of tax. £6.31 billion has already been paid to HMRC from mature arrangements. Its launch did not, and does not, affect HMRC's underlying policy or approach to TTP, which has not changed.

Caste Discrimination

Lord Harries of Pentregarth: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in response to the recommendation by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on "descent-based discrimination" in the United Kingdom, whether they will inform the committee of the outcome of any research into caste-based discrimination.

Baroness Verma: We anticipate that the outcome of the recent research into caste-based discrimination in the United Kingdom carried out by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research will form part of the Government's evidence to the forthcoming review by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Clostridium Sordelli

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many diagnosed cases of Clostridium sordelli there were each year since 2005; and how many deaths have resulted from the infection, broken down by patient age, sex and the source of the bacteria.

Earl Howe: Clostridium sordelli is an infrequent human pathogen that can cause a range of infections.
	Information on diagnosed cases is not collected centrally.

Clostridium Sordelli

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, since 2005, what medical treatment was undertaken on patients within (a) 7 days, (b) 14 days, (c) 21 days, and (d) 28 days prior to their diagnosis of Clostridium sordelli.

Earl Howe: Treatment details for individual patients who may be infected with Clostridium sordelli are not collected centrally.

Cornwall: Stannary Law

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their relationship with the Stannary Parliament in Cornwall.

Lord McNally: The Stannary Parliament last met in Cornwall in 1753. The Government have no relationship with it.

Cornwall: Stannary Law

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 11 July (WA 119), what role stannary law plays in Cornwall, in the light of the primacy of law passed by the United Kingdom Parliament.

Lord McNally: Stannary law oversees the administration of equity for the region's tin mining interests. The Devon and Cornwall Stannary Courts were merged following the Stannaries Act 1855, but their powers were later transferred to county courts by the Stannaries Court (Abolition) Act 1896. If an issue of stannary law was raised it would be for a court to decide in the context of a particular case what account, if any, is to be taken of stannary customs.

Corruption

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, following the Transparency International report of 15 June Corruption in the UK, of corruption in (a) central government, and (b) local government.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government take seriously any allegation of corruption. We expect Ministers, civil servants and political advisers to abide by the law and conduct government business in accordance with standards set out in the Ministerial Code, the Civil Service Code and the Code for Special Advisers.
	We have also put transparency at the centre of what we do. We have an ambitious programme of work to make the public sector more transparent and accountable so as to strengthen the public's trust in government.
	Fraud is a priority. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £21 billion is lost to fraud in the public sector each year. Of this, £15 billion is due to fraud in the tax system, £1.5 billion in the benefits system, £2.6 billion in central government and £2.1 billion in local government. The Government's Counter Fraud Task Force, chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, is overseeing a programme of work to tackle the estimated £21 billion lost to fraud in the public sector each year. It has already delivered £12 million in savings, by undertaking pilots using innovative technology to prevent and detect fraud. These pilots are expected to save £1.5 billion over the next four years.
	The National Fraud Authority has also been working with council chief executives, finance directors and professional bodies to develop a local government fraud strategy. The strategy aims to identify the key fraud risks faced by local government and the common measures that can be taken to improve the prevention and detection of fraud and realise savings.

Diplomatic Immunity: Serious Offences

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many foreign nationals, listed by home country, suspected of serious criminal offences claimed diplomatic immunity to avoid arrest and charge in the Metropolitan Police area in each of the past three year years.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, diplomats are expected to obey the law of the receiving state. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) takes all allegations of illegal activity seriously. When advised of an alleged offence by the police, the FCO always raises the issue with the mission concerned, seeks waivers when requested by police and for the most serious offences, seeks the immediate withdrawal of the diplomat.
	Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, a diplomat may only be arrested by the police if a waiver of immunity has been granted by the sending State. Waivers of immunity were requested in 11 cases involving allegations of serious offences during the previous three years. Seven of the diplomats were withdrawn from the UK.

Diplomatic Immunity: Serious Offences

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is the practice to rescind the credentials of those diplomatic staff and their named relatives who claim immunity to avoid arrest and charge on suspected criminal offences.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, diplomats are expected to obey the law of the receiving state. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) takes all allegations of illegal activity seriously. When advised of an alleged offence by the police, the FCO always raises the issue with the mission concerned, seeks waivers when requested by police, and for the most serious offences seeks the immediate withdrawal of the diplomat.

Driving: Mobile Phones

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted last year of offences which included using a mobile phone while driving.

Lord McNally: 32,520 persons were found guilty at all courts in England and Wales in 2010 for using a mobile phone while driving.
	The figures given on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Economy: Northern Ireland

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 7 July (WA 95), whether their consultation paper Rebalancing the Northern Ireland Economy was made known to any newspaper or radio broadcasters outside Belfast; and whether the existence of the consultation paper was advertised in any newspaper or radio station in Northern Ireland.

Lord Sassoon: The Government recognise the importance of engaging fully with individuals, practitioners, businesses and other organisations in the development of tax policy.
	In addition to the press invited to the launch event on 24 March, which I detailed in my Answer of 7 July, the Chancellor announced the consultation in his Budget speech, which was broadcast live on national television. The consultation was not advertised in the media. However, it was published on the HM Treasury website and there has been considerable media interest which has generated significant coverage in Northern Ireland, as well as some coverage nationally.

Embryology

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 June 2010 (WA 184), how many cybrid embryos have been generated with eggs from non-human species in total according to records held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA); and how many other classes of "admixed human" embryos have been generated.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 7 November 2002 (WA 145), how many human embryos have been (a) created, (b) frozen, (c) destroyed, (d) implanted, and (e) experimented upon. since the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Earl Howe: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the most recent information it holds shows that 155 embryos, defined as human admixed embryos by Section 4A(6)(a) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, have been created. No other forms of embryo creation, as defined by Section 4A(6), have been reported.
	The HFEA has also advised that its register does not hold the information based on the specific categories listed in the noble Lord's question. The information as contained in the HFEA register on 14 July 2011, for the period ending 30 June 2010, which is the latest verified period, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Creation and Usage of Human Embryos 1991-2010 
			 Created through all forms of IVF Stored for later use Discarded in the course of treatment Transferred for implantation Given for research 
			 3,144,386 764,311 1,455,832 1,252,526 101,605 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures relate to activity that the HFEA began recording in 1991 and reflect, for example, that a number of embryos were already in storage at that time.
	2. The HFEA has advised that figures are not collected routinely on the number of embryos allowed to perish, either because the statutory storage period has expired or because a patient had requested it.
	3. HFEA has used the overall number of embryos created for any use. This includes embryos created by patients who do not want to start treatment immediately, e.g. cancer patients, and also embryos created specifically for research.
	4. The numbers of embryos in each category in the table do not add up to the total number of embryos created because embryos can be included in multiple categories.
	Source:Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Embryology

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each year since 2003, how many (a) applications were made, and (b) licences were issued, for tissue typing; and for which diseases the licence applications were approved in each respective year.

Earl Howe: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that since October 2009, it has published all prelimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) licensing decisions on its website, including where PGD with Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue typing applications are considered. This information is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 PGD: Applications Considered and Conditions Approved By HFEA 
			 Year Number of applications considered by Executive Licence Panel Number of licences Conditions approved Conditions not approved 
			 2009 (since October) 2 2 Fanconi's Anaemia A n/a 
			Fanconi's Anaemia C  
			 2010 9 8 Diamond Blackfan Anaemia One Beta Thalassaemia application 
			Sickle Cell Anaemia  
			Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa  
			Beta Thalassaemia  
			X-linked h IgM Syndrome  
			 2011 6 6 Beta Thalassaemia n/a 
			Sickle Cell Anaemia  
			Fanconi Anaemia A  
			Diamond Blackfan Anaemia  
		
	
	Source:Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
	The HFEA has also advised that before October 2009, PGD decisions, including HLA, were not published. However, the authority publishes a table on its website that lists all PGD/HLA conditions that have been licensed since 2003. This table can be found at: www.hfea.gov.uk/cps/hfea/gen/pgd-screening.htm
	In the table on the authority's website, HLA conditions are marked with an asterisk.

Energy: Electricity

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the rated capacity for electricity generation from onshore and offshore wind at the beginning of 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Lord Marland: The table below shows installed capacity for onshore and offshore wind, as at the end of the year.
	
		
			  End of 2007 End of 2008 End of 2009 End of 2010 
			 Onshore wind installed capacity (MW) 2,083.4 2,820.2 3,483.2 4,036.7 
			 Offshore wind installed capacity (MW) 393.8 586.0 941.2 1341.2 
		
	
	Data from tables DUKES 7.4 (end-2007 and end-2008) and ET 7.1 (end-2009 and end-2010), available at: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/source/renewables/renewables.aspa.

Energy: Gas Safety

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that the gas industry funds safety awareness programmes embracing the risk of carbon monoxide deaths and injuries.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the current Ofgem price control review will put in place requirements on the industry to run and fund safety awareness programmes embracing the risk of carbon monoxide deaths and injuries.

Lord Marland: Under the terms of the gas supply licence, suppliers are required to provide customers with gas safety information at least once a year. Ofgem monitors suppliers compliance with licence conditions and can take enforcement action where required.
	Ofgem has also set up a working group to encourage the gas distribution network (GDNs) companies to consider a range of carbon monoxide awareness initiatives. The GDNs are instigating a number of trials during 2011 to look at a variety of methods for protecting customers from carbon monoxide poisoning. The outcome of these trials will help define specific outputs which the distribution companies will have to deliver as part of the next price control in April 2013.
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assesses the effectiveness of consumer awareness campaigns by the gas safe register through a series of key performance indicators (KPIs). These include specific targets to raise awareness of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and latest survey results show that 80 per cent of consumers were aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide and steps they could take to protect themselves.

EU: Coastguard Service

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of proposals for a European Union coastguard service; whether such proposals would involve a transfer of competence to the European Union; what would be the effect on the United Kingdom coastguard service of such proposals; and whether agreement to such proposals would be made by qualified majority voting or unanimity.

Earl Attlee: A European Coastguard Service is not a concept that the UK would support. Her Majesty's Coastguard has a long and proud history and has a worldwide reputation for excellence.
	As part of the proposed revisions to the European Maritime Safety Agency's (EMSA) founding regulations, the European Commission has proposed doing a feasibility study into a European Coastguard system. The proposed regulation has not yet been agreed and is currently being considered.

EU: Flag and Logo

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the proposition by the Rapporteur of the European Parliament's Culture, Sport and Education Committee that the European Union Flag should be flown at big sporting occasions and that competitors should display the European Union logo on their clothing; and whether such a policy would be decided by qualified majority voting or unanimously.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We believe that decisions on which flags and logos are worn or displayed at big sporting occasions are for individual competing teams and event organisers to make, not the European Union.

EU: Regulations

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish in one document details of all the regulations, directives and other agreements they have made with the European Union since May 2010 which have transferred new powers to the institutions of the European Union.

Lord Howell of Guildford: This Government have agreed that there should be no further transfer of power or competence from the UK to the EU over the course of this Parliament. In that context this Government have made no regulations, directives or other agreements with the European Union since May 2010 which have transferred new powers to the institutions of the European Union.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to collate statistics on the levels of female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prosecute those who perform female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to protect temporary United Kingdom residents from female genital mutilation.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to combat female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether to launch a nationwide campaign highlighting the dangers of female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government who will be responsible for commissioning female genital mutilation services under proposals for general practitioner commissioning of healthcare services.

Baroness Browning: Female genital mutilation is an illegal and unacceptable form of child abuse and a form of violence against girls and women that the Government are committed to eradicating. We want to protect current and future generations of girls from this abuse and to ensure that those girls and women living with the consequences of FGM are given the care and support they deserve.
	Our focus is prevention. The Government have recently (February 2011) launched multi-agency practice guidelines for front-line professionals such as teachers, GPs and nurses. The guidelines aim to raise awareness of FGM, highlight the risks that people should be aware of and set out clearly the steps that should be taken to safeguard children and women from this abuse. Legislation alone cannot eliminate the practice so our resources will be aimed at raising awareness of the law on FGM and the health implications with communities and front-line practitioners. The guidelines are a key step in ensuring that professionals are able and confident to intervene to protect girls at risk. In addition, more than 40,000 leaflets and 40,000 posters on the prevention of FGM have been circulated to schools, health services, charities and community groups around the country.
	FGM's prevalence is difficult to estimate because of the hidden nature of the crime. However, a study based on the 2001 Census suggested that over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 could be at high risk of FGM in England and Wales each year, and nearly 66,000 women in England and Wales are living with the consequences of FGM.
	FGM has been explicitly illegal since 1985 when the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 was passed. The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (which came into force on 3 March 2004) repealed and replaced the 1985 Act and made it an offence for the first time for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to carry out FGM abroad, or to aid, abet, counsel or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad, even in countries where the practice is legal. To reflect the serious harm that FGM causes, the Act also increased the maximum penalty from five to 14 years' imprisonment. There have so far been no prosecutions under the 2003 Act. Research suggests that the most likely barrier to prosecution is the pressure from family or wider community that leads cases to go unreported. The CPS is due to publish new legal guidance on FGM later this summer to ensure that it is able to prosecute cases of FGM that satisfy the evidential and public interest tests within the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	Temporary United Kingdom residents (refugees and asylum seekers whose application is still being considered, and anyone who has been lawfully living in the UK for 12 months immediately prior to treatment) are afforded the protections available to permanent UK residents, including access to 15 specialist clinics in the NHS which treat women and girls who have been subjected to FGM. These clinics have trained and culturally sensitive staff who offer a range of confidential healthcare services for women and girls including reversal surgery. These clinics are open to women to attend without referral from their own doctors. These clinics are funded by local PCTs.
	In relation to responsibility for commissioning female genital mutilation services, the consultation paper Healthy Lives, Healthy People: consultation on the funding and commissioning routes for public health proposed that local authorities should be responsible for working in partnership to tackle issues such as social exclusion including violence prevention. This could include supra-local commissioning of services such as female genital mutilation (FGM) clinics. The consultation closed on 31 March 2011 and the Government will be publishing their response shortly.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government why there have been no prosecutions for Female Genital Mutilation in the United Kingdom; and what discussions they have held with officials from other countries where successful prosecutions have taken place.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes cases that have been investigated and referred to it by the police. Every case that is referred to the CPS for a charging decision is reviewed in accordance with the full code test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the code). This requires that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest for a prosecution to proceed. To date, there have been no prosecutions of cases involving female genital mutilation (FGM) as there has been insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. A case that does not pass the evidential stage of the full code test must not proceed no matter how serious or sensitive it may be. However, agencies are working closely together to raise awareness and encourage reporting of FGM, so that they can be thoroughly investigated and evidence gathered.
	The CPS is a member of the Cross-Governmental Female Genital Mutilation Steering Group to help tackle this practice, but it has not held discussions with officials from other countries on this issue. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in regular dialogue with their counterparts in other countries on wider FGM matters. In January 2011, the UK's Cross Government FGM Co-ordinator visited Ethiopia and highlighted a number of areas for improving our work on FGM, particularly in community engagement and international diaspora relations, so that the practice of FGM can be eradicated.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government who, other than general practitioners, will be responsible for commissioning Female Genital Mutilation Services under their proposals for reform of the National Health Service.

Earl Howe: The department proposed in Healthy Lives, Healthy People: consultation on the funding and commissioning routes for public health that female genital mutilation (FGM) clinics should be commissioned by local authorities. The consultation closed on 31 March and the department published its response to the consultation feedback on 14 July. The response makes clear that on the basis of feedback from stakeholders, the department has changed its position and can now confirm that the FGM services will be commissioned by the National Health Service. Further details on arrangements for this commissioning will be announced in due course.

Finance: Collateral Transformation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether collateral transformation poses an added risk to financial systems; and whether steps will be taken to collect and publish data and enhance transparency in this area.

Lord Sassoon: Ongoing regulatory reform is likely to change significantly the quantity and quality of collateral that market participants require as part of their business.
	Potential risks associated with this have been noted by the UK authorities. In its June 2011 Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England discussed transactions involving collateral transformation, described as collateral swaps.
	The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has advised the Financial Services Authority that its bank supervisors should monitor closely the risks associated with these types of transactions. The FPC also expressed its support of international initiatives to improve the availability and quality of data on intra-financial system activity.
	The UK authorities are working both domestically and internationally to assess any risks that may be presented by the way that firms access the collateral they need, with a view to ensuring that those risks are appropriately mitigated in an internationally consistent manner.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what submissions they intend to make to the European Commission concerning the proposed Investor Compensation Schemes Directive; and when they expect the new Directive to take effect.

Lord Sassoon: As with all European directives, the Government have engaged closely with the European Commission, other European institutions and other member states on the investor compensation schemes directive.
	Negotiations on the general approach to the investor compensation schemes directive are still ongoing and will continue into the autumn. The new directive will not take effect until final agreement is reached between the Council and European Parliament; it is not clear when this will be achieved.

Firearms: Licensing

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is permissible to have separate shotgun and firearms licences in England, Scotland and Wales.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an applicant can obtain separate shotgun and firearms licences from different police authorities in England, Scotland and Wales.

Baroness Browning: Under the provisions of the Firearms Acts, it is necessary to have separate certificates for Section 1 firearms and Section 2 shotguns although these may be issued on a co-terminous basis and for a reduced fee if the applicant so wishes. Applications for the grant of a firearm or shot gun certificate must be made in the prescribed form to the chief officer of police for the area in which the applicant has his principal place of residence, whether that is in England, Wales or Scotland.

First World War: Pardons

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of the Republic of Ireland concerning the issuing of pardons to those former members of the Irish army who were court martialled and had their rights to state employment and benefit, including pensions, removed because they joined the Crown forces during World War II.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There have been no representations to the Irish Government regarding the matter.

Government Departments: Hampton Principles

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government to which government departments the Hampton Principles apply.

Baroness Wilcox: The Hampton Principles apply to all government departments.
	Sir Philip Hampton's 2005 review, Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement, considered how to reduce unnecessary administration for businesses, without compromising the UK's excellent regulatory regime.
	As a result of the final recommendation, "creating a business-led body at the centre of government to drive implementation of the recommendations and challenge departments on their regulatory performance", the Government created the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) to oversee the reduction of regulatory burdens on business, and hold government departments and regulators to account.

Government Departments: Marketing

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a consistent set of metrics within government departments tasked with carrying out marketing activities, in order that the impact of marketing campaigns in the short, medium and long term can be assessed, and the value of consistent investment in Government marketing initiatives be recognised and receive on-going commitment of funds.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Central Office of Information's (COI) evaluation team and the Government Communication Network (GCN) provide best practice marketing evaluation guidance and resources for government departments. Current guidance publications are available via the COI website: http://coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=389

Government Departments: Regulators Compliance Code

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Regulators Compliance Code for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been amended since June 2008; and, if so, how.

Baroness Wilcox: There is one Regulators Compliance Code (the Compliance Code) for Government and not separate departmental ones.
	The Government laid a draft of the Compliance Code before Parliament on 15 October 2007. The Compliance Code was issued by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2007 under Section 22(1) of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. It came into force on 6 April 2008. It has not been amended.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Browning on 23 June (WA 334-6), what was the reasoning for terminating the research "Evaluation of serious organised crime task force programme".

Baroness Browning: The research "Evaluation of serious organised crime task force programme" was terminated during a period of general budget reductions across the Home Office. An assessment of the merits of continuing the research was made relative to other organised crime work, including research, and it was considered best value for money to terminate this work and prioritise resources elsewhere.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Lea of Crondall: To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they collate on the proportion of the workforces based in (a) the United Kingdom, and (b) overseas, for the top 20 companies based in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Wilcox: The Government do not hold data on overseas employment of UK companies.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 June (WA 279), what was the variation agreed in the project "minimising medicine use in organic dairy herds through animal health and welfare planning"; and for what reason.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy colleagues. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (e.g. costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	The project titled "Minimising medicine use in organic dairy herds through animal health and welfare planning (ANIPLAN)" was initiated as a result of the co-operation in CORE Organic under an EU supported ERA Network, within which European research funding organisations set up co-operation between national research activities in organic food and farming.
	A no cost extension to this project was agreed from 30 April 2010 to 1 November 2010, following a request by the project consortium to the CORE Organic Project Co-ordinators, to organise and hold a final workshop, and be able to include the findings of this in the final report.
	Further information on CORE Organic can be obtained at www.coreorganic.org.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 June (WA 279), what was the variation agreed in the project "UK eutrophying and acidifying atmospheric pollutants (UKEAP)"; and for what reasons.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy colleagues. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	In June 2010 the Defra contract UK Eutrophying and Acidifying Atmospheric Pollutants (UKEAP) was amended to include £23,030 of additional work. The work was to establish the levels of fluoride deposition in the UK following the continued eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull, in Iceland. This included increasing the frequency of sampling from fortnightly to weekly at 8 PrecipNet sites for a three-month period; the addition of the fluoride ion to the list of species analysed for all samples for the three-month period; and the additional analysis of samples from the nominated eight sites that were collected before the eruption.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 June (WA 279), what was the variation agreed in the project "Research into noise and vibration from building mounted micro-turbines"; and for what reasons.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy colleagues. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	In June 2010 the Defra contract "Research into noise and vibration from building mounted micro-turbines" was amended due to the supplier having made an error in the financial section of its tender bid. The supplier is not VAT registered and included an element of VAT in its bid. The contract was amended to reflect the correct cost of the contract.

Government Departments: Websites

Lord Hollick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the nature and type of information they requested from Google on 1,162 occasions in the six months to 31 December 2010, as detailed in Google's latest Transparency Report; and which government bodies made the requests.

Baroness Browning: The Home Office does not believe that Her Majesty's Government have requested the information Google specifies in its latest Transparency Report directly. We believe this information relates to communications data requests made mainly by law enforcement agencies.
	Communications data are information about the who, where and when of communications such as phone calls and e-mail. It does not include the content of communications. This information is retained by communications service providers for a period for their own business purposes.
	Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), specified public authorities may require specific communications data to be provided to them by a communications service provider in order to fulfil one of a number of statutory purposes specified in the Act-such as the prevention and detection of crime.

Health: Care Assistants

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce minimum standards of education for health care assistants.

Earl Howe: There are no plans at present to introduce minimum standards of education for healthcare assistants.
	The Government advocate the benefits of a strong support workforce that is driven by local service need. It is therefore the local healthcare providers which are best placed to decide how to organise the skills mix of their workforce in order to achieve better quality outcomes and value for money for their patients.
	Local managers and employers, while required to conform to national standards, must be free to manage their own support workforce teams to meet the health service needs of the communities they serve.

Health: Complementary and Alternative Medicines

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the European Directive on traditional herbal medicinal products, herbal products will still be allowed to be sold in the United Kingdom as food supplements.

Earl Howe: A herbal product which falls outside the definition of a medicine and which is sold as a food or food supplement is unaffected by the European directive on traditional herbal medicinal products. In the United Kingdom, the decision as to whether a product falls within the definition of a medicinal product is made by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on a case by case basis using the definition of that term contained in Article 1 of directive 2001/83/EC together with relevant legal precedent and the MHRA's own published guidance. The European directive on traditional herbal medicinal products did not amend that definition.

Health: Donor Organs

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any human organs have been imported from China since (a) 2000, and (b) 2006; if so, how many and of what type; and whether checks were made in all cases to verify that they had been obtained with full consent.

Earl Howe: No organs have been imported from China to be allocated for transplantation in the United Kingdom.

Health: Reciprocal Agreements

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 4 July (WA 10), why no payments were made to the United Kingdom in the last three years for European Union nationals resident in the United Kingdom for healthcare costs, and sickness and maternity benefits under EU regulations by Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, and by the Netherlands for the last two years; how much were any United Kingdom claims actually made to those countries; and what was the accumulated total paid to those countries by the United Kingdom over the past three years for the same costs.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 4 July (WA 10), whether there is a time limit on backdating payments to European Union countries making claims for healthcare and social security costs under European regulations for United Kingdom pensioners, dependants of pensioners, and for dependants of residents in those countries of their nationals working in the United Kingdom.

Earl Howe: European Union (EU) Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 have no time limits for introducing claims or paying those claims for healthcare benefits in kind. All claims and payments made up to and including the end of the financial year 2009-10 were in accordance with the regulations. Individual member states have been able to decide when to submit and pay claims. The United Kingdom submits claims for residents from other member states once the average costs for the relevant year have been published in the Official Journal of EU.
	For treatment provided under Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009, which succeeded 1408/71 and 574/72, there are time limits for the introduction and payment of claims.
	Total average cost claims submitted by the UK to the countries referred to in the financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 are set out in Table 1. Over 95 per cent. of the claims were submitted in the year 2009-10. This corrects the earlier information I gave the noble Lord on 13 July, Official Report, col. (WA181).
	The total amounts paid to those countries in the financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 are set out in Table 2.
	Table 1
	
		
			 EEA Medical Costs 
			 UK Claims Submitted in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-101 for Articles 94 and 952 
			 Austria £703,000 
			 Cyprus £0 
			 Czech Republic £9,000 
			 Iceland £0 
			 Latvia £0 
			 Liechtenstein £0 
			 Lithuania £0 
			 Luxembourg £0 
			 Netherlands3 £3,431,000 
			 Poland £15,000 
			 Slovakia £0 
			 Slovenia £0 
			 Total £4,200,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Country totals are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Overall totals are rounded to the nearest £100,000. Sub-totals may not add up to totals due to rounding.
	2. Pensioners, dependents of pensioners, and dependents of workers not resident in same member state as the worker.
	3. Final value of UK claims as determined in accordance with the bilateral arrangement with Netherlands
	Table 2
	
		
			 EEA Medical Costs 
			 Total Payments to Member States 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-101 
			 Payments for Article 94 and 95 Claims2 Payments To Member States £ Equivalent3 
			 Austria £3,674,000 
			 Cyprus £15,728,000 
			 Czech Republic £107,000 
			 Iceland £0 
			 Latvia £32,000 
			 Liechtenstein £0 
			 Lithuania £9,000 
			 Luxembourg £0 
			 Netherlands £7,311,000 
			 Poland £0 
			 Slovakia £7,000 
			 Slovenia £95,000 
			 Total £27,000,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Country totals are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Overall totals are rounded to the nearest £100,000. Sub-totals may not add up to totals due to rounding.
	2. Pensioners, dependents of pensioners, and dependents of workers not resident in same member state as the worker.
	3. £ equivalent totals based on exchange rates at the time of the payment.

Horn of Africa

Lord Cameron of Dillington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will put in place to ensure that the money spent through the United Nations World Food Programme in the Horn of Africa goes to where it is most needed.

Baroness Verma: The Secretary of State is committed to ensuring that humanitarian interventions supported by the UK reach the most vulnerable in the most efficient manner possible.
	In response to the current crisis in the Horn of Africa the Department for International Development (DfID), where possible, will undertake live programme monitoring including of UK funded World Food Programme (WFP) activities. Upon completion of these programmes DfID aims to carry out final evaluations where it is able to do so. Such measures are normal DfID practice and play an important role in assessing the impact of our support.

Horn of Africa

Lord Cameron of Dillington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the head of the United Nations World Food Programme about emergency food distribution in the Horn of Africa.

Baroness Verma: The Department for International Development (DfID) remains in close contact with the World Food Programme (WFP) regarding the organisation's emergency operations in the Horn of Africa. The Secretary of State for International Development and the head of WFP, Josette Sheeran, have discussed WFP's response to the situation in the region. Going forward DfID will continue discussions with WFP and other humanitarian actors responding in the Horn.

House of Lords: IT

Lord Avebury: To ask the Chairman of Committees whether he will make netbooks available as an alternative to laptops for Members.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: There are no plans to provide Members with netbooks. Past assessments of these products have shown that they cannot run the House security software. The Information Committee plays an advisory role in matters such as this and members of that committee are currently conducting a trial of tablet computers. As part of this trial, the committee will assess whether such devices may assist Members in their parliamentary work, having regard to their compatibility with the parliamentary network, information security guidelines and cost. The committee will evaluate the results of the trial at the end of the year.

House of Lords: Work Experience

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the House of Lords Administration will increase the number of work experience placements offered within the House of Lords.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The House of Lords Administration offers work placements, for a maximum of one week, to students aged between 15 and 18. Placements are available in June and July only. There is no set limit on the number of placements offered and those seeking placements are allocated to offices according to their preferences. The number of placements which can be made in each individual office is a limiting factor and depends on the predicted workload of the office concerned. In June and July 2011, 46 applications for placements were received, and 26 placements were undertaken.

Human Rights

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the United Kingdom representative at the 115th meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe did not raise or discuss the question of the decision by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Hirst (No. 2) v the United Kingdom on the voting rights of prisoners; who was the representative; why no resolution was proposed; and whether they will propose a resolution at the next meeting on the problems and issues as they relate to the United Kingdom.

Lord McNally: At its 1115th meeting the committee adopted a decision in respect of Hirst (No. 2) v the United Kingdom which can be found here: https://wcd.coe.int/wcd/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=CM/Del/Dec(2011)1115/28&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&Site=DG4& BackColorInternet=B9BDEE&BackColorIntranet= FFCD4F&BackColorLogged=FFC679
	The Government were represented at the meeting by the deputy head, UK delegation to Council of Europe. Since the UK has until 11 October to introduce legislative proposals to Parliament, there was no need for a discussion or a resolution on implementing prisoner voting rights at the meeting. The Government are considering the next steps. The Committee of Ministers next meets in September.

Hunting Ban

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted last year of breaching the hunting ban.

Lord McNally: 36 persons were found guilty at all courts in England and Wales in 2010 (latest available) for offences under the Hunting Act.
	The figures given on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Immigration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Browning on 6 July (WA 78), (a) what is the evidence from economic literature that, in the absence of non-European Union student workers, non-migrant labour will not be sufficient; and (b) whether the figure used in the published Impact Assessment of a loss of output of £2 billion to the United Kingdom economy was based on the assumption that none of the current output by students could be effected by British workers.

Baroness Browning: The economic literature for the UK has provided no evidence of displacement by migrants, either for students in employment or non migrant workers generally.
	On this basis, the student impact assessment assumed that none of the lost output is taken up by British workers. As set out in the Written Answer on 6 July (WA 78) "it is not clear that this necessarily applies at a time when growth in the economy is less well-established. If there was some displacement, the economic impacts would be significantly lower".
	The Home Secretary has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to research the labour market, social and public service impacts of migration, including the issue of displacement, and it is due to report in November.

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will undertake a review of the ways in which private security companies carry out enforced removals of individuals from the United Kingdom, in the light of complaints that have arisen.

Baroness Browning: Private sector escorting companies operate within a clear framework set out in legislation and in a set of operating standards and instructions which are published on the UK Border Agency's website. The role of escorts is also subject to oversight by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, who undertakes both announced and unannounced inspections.
	The UK Border Agency expects escorts to carry out their work with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity and has, over the past few years, introduced a number of measures to ensure the protection of staff and detainees. These include the use of contract monitors at the main airports used for departures, and an independent monitoring board at Heathrow Airport.
	Detainee custody officers (DCOs) are accredited by the UK Border Agency to fulfil their functions, which includes using reasonable force as a last resort to ensure an individual complies with their removal. All DCOs are trained in control and restraint techniques accredited by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and receive refresher training every 12 months as a condition of their individual accreditation to work as a DCO. Restraint training is delivered by professionals and we are satisfied that the techniques are safe. We have, however, asked NOMS to conduct a fundamental review of the techniques used in order to see whether they can be made even safer. This review is ongoing.
	We are satisfied that private sector escorting companies have acted professionally, ensuring that those in their custody are treated with dignity and care. Where detainees complain that the use of force has been excessive, the matter is investigated by the UK Border Agency's professional standards unit. If a complainant is unhappy with the response they can ask for the issue to be re-examined by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, whose role was extended in 2006 to investigate complaints by immigration detainees.

Independent Commission on Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Independent Banking Commission will be required to support its recommendations by a full cost-benefit analysis; and whether it will examine the competitive impact of its proposals or whether this will be subject to separate review.

Lord Sassoon: The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) has been tasked with considering the structure of the UK banking sector and with looking at structural and non-structural measures to reform the banking system and promote competition.
	The ICB's terms of reference state that it will have regard to the legal and operational requirements of implementing the options under consideration, as well as the importance of generating practical recommendations. It will also take into account the findings of ongoing EU and international work and inform the UK Government's approach to international discussions on the financial system.
	The commission is required to have regard to the Government's wider goals of financial stability and creating an efficient, open, robust and diverse banking sector, with specific attention paid to the potential impact of its recommendations on:
	financial stability;lending to UK consumers and businesses and the pace of economic recovery;consumer choice;the competitiveness of the UK financial and professional services sectors and the wider UK economy; andrisks to the fiscal position of the Government.
	The Government look forward to receiving the ICB's final report on 12 September 2011. The Government will then decide on the right course of action.

India: Commonwealth Games

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist British companies who are yet to receive payment from the Government of India for contracts relating to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint: The Government are aware of the difficulties that some British companies have had in receiving payment for services provided during the Commonwealth Games. We have raised our concerns with the Indian Government at ministerial level and our officials in the high commission in Delhi are in regular touch with senior officials across the many different ministries involved to try to find a resolution.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further reports they have received from the Israeli and Palestinian authorities on (a) the treatment, and (b) the condition of incarceration, of child prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We continue to monitor this issue and often receive reports from various non-governmental organisations including Defence for Children International. The UK remains concerned about the number of children currently being held in Israeli prisons. We raise our concerns with the Israeli Government about the application of due process and the treatment of Palestinian detainees, including where children are involved, on a frequent basis. Most recently my honourable friend Alistair Burt raised this during his recent visit to the region and our ambassador in Tel Aviv has raised the issue of Israel's treatment of Palestinian children with Education Minister Saar and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' principal legal adviser Daniel Taub.
	The noble Baroness may be interested to hear that alongside our existing projects, our consulate general in Jerusalem has recently secured funding to fund the UK Bar Committee for Human Rights to come to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in September 2011 to research a report about the treatment of children arrested and detained in the Israeli military court system.
	We shall continue to raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities and issue statements when appropriate.

Legal Aid

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact on the provision of free and reliable legal advice on immigration and refugee issues of the entry into administration of the Immigration Advisory Service, the winding up of Refugee and Migrant Justice, and the cuts in legal aid.

Lord McNally: The position of both the Immigration and Asylum Service (IAS) and Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) is not a direct consequence of the proposed legal aid reforms, not least because these reforms have yet to be implemented. The primary concern for the Government and the Legal Services Commission is to ensure clients of the IAS and RMJ continue to get the help they need.
	These are only two providers in a much wider market and there is significant long term interest in this work from other providers, both not-for-profit organisations and private solicitor firms.
	The LSC ran a tender round for new immigration and asylum contracts in October last year and there was an increase in the number of offices that applied to do the work and bids for more than double the amount of cases that were available. The LSC has already received 140 expressions of interest to take on this work.
	All immigration and asylum providers will continue to be expected to meet the same high quality standards that are in place. These include compulsory accreditation schemes for all advisers and supervisors. We will seek to ensure that the interests of this vulnerable group are properly protected.

Malawi

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have received that the Government of Malawi purchased an executive jet for the President of Malawi while receiving budget support from the United Kingdom Government.

Baroness Verma: The Government of Malawi did purchase an executive jet for the President of Malawi in 2009 while receiving general budget support from the UK through the Department for International Development (DfID) in 2009.
	DfID cut £3 million from its planned £22 million general budget support in 2009 due to concerns about the implications of the purchase of the jet for sound public financial management and for the Government of Malawi's commitment to poverty reduction.
	The UK Government suspended general budget support to Malawi indefinitely in July 2011. The Secretary of State for International Development took the decision after the Government of Malawi repeatedly failed to address UK concerns over economic management and governance.
	This comes as the Government reduce general budget support across the world by 43 per cent and tighten up the principles on which budget support agreements are made more generally.

Media: News International Ltd

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review whether to continue to buy advertising space from News International.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Since the introduction of spending controls across Government on marketing and advertising in June 2010, there has been a 68 per cent reduction in government spend on advertising and marketing through the Central Office of Information (COI), from £532 million in 2009-10 to an estimated £168 million in 2010-11.
	The Government therefore currently have no planned advertising commitments with News International.

National Insurance

Lord Boswell of Aynho: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce the discrepancy between the total of national insurance numbers issued and the numbers of active workers or retired people registered in the system.

Lord Freud: There is no discrepancy relating to the number of national insurance numbers issued.
	The latest available figures (Feb 2011) show a total of 83.36 million national insurance number (NINo) records on the department's Customer Information System (CIS). This includes NINos of people known to be living abroad and 19.63 million NINos relating to deceased persons.
	There are legitimate reasons why the number of NINos is greater than the number of the adult population. For example, there are UK citizens living abroad in receipt of UK social security benefits.
	In 2007 a full categorisation of the NINo stock was undertaken and the results at that time were as follows:
	2007 NINo stock categorisation:
	55.1 million Active accounts-ie those showing current or recent use of the NINo;16.8 million accounts relating to people who are now deceased; and4.9 million inactive accounts-ie those showing no recent activity (and which do not fall into the deceased person account category) such as people who have moved abroad.
	The NINo stock increases every year due to NINos being allocated to young people reaching the age of 16 and individuals entering the UK from abroad who require a NINo for employment purposes
	Once a NINo is allocated it needs to remain on the department's computer system. This is because the NINo provides a permanent numerical link between the individual and their national insurance contribution record, which determines entitlement to contributory benefits and state pension. The NINos of deceased individuals are retained on the system as a partner may make a claim for a contributory benefit, which is dependent on the contribution record of the deceased.
	The retention of the NINo for deceased persons on our systems-clearly marked as such to DWP staff-also provides an important counterfraud measure in that it prevents fraudsters from hijacking these numbers.

National Insurance

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 13 July (WA 189), how many of the 63.73 million not-deceased holders of national insurance numbers have been in active employment in the past 24 months, broken down by nationality.

Lord Freud: Information detailing how many of the 63.73 million not deceased holders of national insurance numbers have been in active employment in the past 24 months is not available as it could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

National Probation Service: Training

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any probation officers in England and Wales have been trained in the use of the domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and honour based violence risk model.

Lord McNally: The Probation Service has 5,758 probation officer staff employed by 35 probation trusts and working in many different locations. There is no single central point for management information relating to training in the use of the domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and honour based violence risk model.
	To obtain the information requested would involve identifying and contacting sources of information in many different locations and would thus incur costs far in excess of £700.

National Research Ethics Service

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will lay before Parliament regulations to establish the Special Health Authority to accommodate the National Research Ethics Service; and when it will be fully operational.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff are employed by the National Research Ethics Service; and how many of those posts are covered by locum, agency or other temporary staff.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will protect the United Kingdom ethical review process after the National Research Ethics Service is replaced by the Special Health Authority.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) what is the proposed timescale for the setting up of the new Health Research Regulatory Agency; (b) what functions currently carried out by other bodies will be transferred into that Agency; and (c) what is the proposed timescale for such transfers.

Earl Howe: The Government announced in the Plan for Growth at the time of the Budget in March that we would create a Health Research Authority (HRA) to combine and streamline the approvals for health research that are presently scattered across many organisations, in order to reduce the regulatory burden and increase the speed and cost-effectiveness of developing new treatment and care in the United Kingdom. We said we would establish the HRA this year, initially as a special health authority with the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) as its core.
	We plan to make and lay the relevant statutory instruments this autumn to establish the HRA as a special health authority later this year. It is to take on substantive functions from the date of its establishment. The new body will be set up to focus on health research regulation. It will in the first instance bring together in one place the work of the bodies that presently provide the NRES. The new body will be well placed to make preparations for taking on board additional functions when it becomes a non-departmental public body (NDPB), subject to primary legislation.
	The NRES is currently a division of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). The NPSA has 25 posts within the NRES head office. It also contracts with other bodies to host a further 117 posts within NRES regional centres. Of the 25 head office posts, 20 are filled by NPSA employees on permanent contracts and four by secondees or other non-permanent workers, while one is currently vacant.
	The NRES will not be replaced by the HRA. It will be a division at the core of the HRA. The NRES currently works with the devolved Administrations to promote a robust, consistent system of research ethics review across the UK. The HRA will continue this work. It will also take on the current appointing authority functions of strategic health authorities. Further consideration will be given to the extent to which it may be able to take on or carry out other functions under current legislation so that it can foster improvements across many other parts of the regulatory environment for research.
	Where we can achieve these improvements without primary legislation, we shall. Where primary legislation is required in order to develop the role of the HRA and consolidate functions, it will be introduced in a later Bill. For example, further primary legislation is needed to transfer functions from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the Human Tissue Authority (HTA).
	In addition to the core NRES functions and those currently performed by the HFEA and HTA, we are exploring the possibility of a number of other functions moving to the HRA when it becomes an NDPB. The aim is to streamline the approval and compliance processes and requirements for health research, as described in the Plan for Growth.

News International Ltd

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask HM Revenue and Customs to investigate whether News International has made ineligible claims for tax deductible payments.

Lord Sassoon: Decisions about whether or not to investigate any taxpayer are a matter for the Commissioners of HM Revenue and Customs. Decisions are taken based on the Commissioners' assessment of the risk of tax loss.

NHS: EU Nationals

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to recover the unpaid sums due to the National Health Service for the treatment of European Union Nationals.

Earl Howe: Under European Union (EU) regulations, member states are required to make payment where a valid claim is made by another member state for treatment provided. A member state that fails to make such payment will be in breach of the regulations and subject to possible infraction proceedings by the European Commission.
	The Government are continuing to strengthen the data capture process to ensure that the United Kingdom claims all the money to which it is entitled from other member states. This work includes areas such as the European health insurance card and the registration of EU pensioners that come to the UK to live.
	The UK is not entitled to claim reimbursement for EU nationals, of working age, who lawfully reside in the UK and pay contributions to the UK system.

NHS: Medical Training Initiative

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many doctors from Sub-Saharan Africa are currently receiving training in the United Kingdom as part of the Medical Training Initiative for international doctors.

Earl Howe: In 2010-11, 21 doctors from sub-Saharan Africa were receiving training as part of the medical training initiative for international doctors.

NHS: Medical Training Initiative

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on doctors from Sub-Saharan Africa who are receiving training in this country of the decision to restrict their stay in the United Kingdom to one year.

Baroness Browning: In our consultation document Employment-Related Settlement, Tier 5 and Overseas Domestic Workers, published on 9 June, we are consulting on changes to Tier 5. This includes a proposal to cap leave across the Tier 5 temporary worker route, which includes government authorised exchange schemes of which the medical training initiative is one. The consultation invites views on this proposal and a decision has not been made. Any impact will be assessed in the light of responses to the consultation.

Northern Ireland Office: Taxis

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 19 May (WA 362) concerning the use of taxis by the staff of the Northern Ireland Office, under what circumstances are taxis used between a residential address and a government building; and to whom in the Northern Ireland Office such arrangements are allowed.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Taxis are only used by staff in the Northern Ireland Office travelling between a residential address and a government building for work-related purposes and where it is the most cost effective means of transport, or to assist staff working unsocial hours taking account of both cost and availability of public transport. The arrangements apply to all Northern Ireland Office staff where these circumstances prevail.

Northern Ireland Office: Taxis

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 6 June (WA 52) concerning a taxi journey from home to work by a member of the staff of the Northern Ireland Office on 13 May, when was the expense authorised; by whom; and why.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The expense for the taxi journey was authorised on 12 May 2011 by the appropriate line manager. Authorisation was given to accommodate a member of staff working unsocial hours taking account of both cost and the availability of public transport.

Ofcom

Lord Whitty: To ask Her Majesty's Government which government department is the sponsoring department for Ofcom.

Baroness Rawlings: Following the machinery of government changes in January 2011, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) became the sole sponsor of Ofcom. Previously, DCMS shared sponsorship of Ofcom with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). When Ofcom takes responsibility for postal services from Postcomm later this year, BIS will sponsor the postal services work that Ofcom will do.

Ofcom

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions in each of the last eight years Ofcom has carried out fit and proper reviews.

Baroness Rawlings: The matter raised is an operational one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, my officials spoke to Ofcom, who advised:
	"Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK responsible for the licensing of television and radio services. Ofcom has a positive duty under the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 to be satisfied that any person holding a broadcasting licence is, and remains, fit and proper to hold those licences.
	Ofcom routinely assesses all new applicants for broadcasting licences and we have a continuing duty to be satisfied that all holders of broadcasting licences remain fit and proper.
	There has been one occasion when Ofcom has determined that it was not satisfied that two licence holders were fit and proper to continue to hold their licences. This concerned licences held by Bang Media (London) Ltd and Bang Channels Ltd. The notice of revocation was published on 25 November 2010 and can be found in full on Ofcom's website".

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 4 July (WA 22), when Ministers will agree the principles of the Government's ticket allocation for the 2012 Olympic Games; and whether they will place a copy of the principles in the Library of the House when they have done so.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The development of the ticketing strategy is on-going and is not likely to be completed until much nearer to the Games. After the Games, the Government will publish a list of those guests to whom they allocated tickets, and the cost to Government of those tickets.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 4 July (WA 22), how many of the tickets that have been allocated to the Government for the 2012 Olympic Games are for sessions when medals will be awarded.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: 50 per cent of the Government's allocation of 8,815 tickets are for sessions when medals will be awarded.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 5 July (WA 48), how many tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games will be reserved for International Federations to apply for; and which are eligible to apply.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: A total of 8.8 million Olympic tickets are available. 5 per cent of these tickets are available for purchase by the International Olympic Committee, international federations and other global sports bodies represented at the Games, international broadcast rights holders and prestige ticketing partners. There are 26 sports in the Olympic Games, each with its own international federation that governs that sport. Each orders a small number of tickets, primarily for their own sport. These are separate to the 75 per cent of tickets made available through the UK application process.
	Of the remaining Olympic tickets 12 per cent are for purchase by the 205 national Olympic committees competing in the Games and 8 per cent for purchase by sponsors and stakeholders (global and domestic).

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 4 (WA 22), whether they will publish a full list of all business leaders allocated tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: After the Games, the Government will publish a list of those guests to whom they allocated tickets, including business leaders, and the cost to the Government of those tickets.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 4 July (WA 22), whether the domestic political leaders allocated tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games will be required to pay for them.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The allocation of tickets to domestic political leaders will be limited to those who have a specific job to do at Games time in support of government objectives. Government departments will be charged for the tickets they request.

Palestine

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they have provided in the last 12 months to schools under the Palestinian jurisdiction.

Baroness Verma: The UK provided £30 million in financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the financial year 2010-11 through a World Bank trust fund. This helped the PA provide basic services, such as healthcare and education, to Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. The PA spent 18.2 per cent of its budget on education in 2010.

Peru

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial assistance they provided to population control programmes operating in Peru between 1996 and 1998.

Baroness Verma: The Department for International Development's (DfID) total gross public expenditure for Peru in the years 1996-97 and 1997-98 were £3,537,000 and £4,097,000 respectively. Total DfID spending, across all countries on health and population, was £116.11 million in 1996-97 and £117.44 million in 1997-98.
	It is not possible to disaggregate these figures further without incurring disproportionate cost.

Police: Databases

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government by what name the database on which police keep records of domestic extremists is known to the Association of Chief Police Officers; and what discussions have been held with Ministers regarding this database and citizens' right to privacy.

Baroness Browning: The National Domestic Extremism Unit database holds information on domestic extremism. Ministers routinely discuss a range of policing matters and citizens' rights to privacy with a wide range of bodies. The police must at all times comply with the legal framework governing the management of police information.

Police: Training

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures police forces in England and Wales use in assessing risk in domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and honour based violence cases.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is any evidence from domestic homicide reviews undertaken since 2001 that the training of police officers in England and Wales on risk identification, assessment and management is adequate.

Baroness Browning: Evidence from domestic homicide reviews has informed the development of risk assessment tools and police training-including the development of the domestic abuse, stalking and honour based violence (DASH) risk identification, assessment and management model accredited for use throughout the UK.
	On 13 April, the Home Office implemented Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. This means that local areas and agencies are expected to undertake a multi-agency review following a domestic violence homicide to assist all those involved in the review process in identifying the lessons that can be learnt from domestic homicides with a view to preventing future homicides and violence.
	The Home Office is establishing an expert group which will have responsibility for quality assuring the reports and cascading lessons learnt nationally. Our overall aim is to identify the lessons that can be learnt from domestic homicides with a view to preventing future homicides and violence.
	To date no reviews have completed under the statutory guidance.

Police: Training

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour Based Violence Risk Model is used as an accredited training package in the light of restrictions on police budgets in England and Wales.

Baroness Browning: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Council accredited the domestic abuse, stalking and honour based violence (DASH) Risk identification, assessment and management model to be implemented across all police services in the UK from March 2009. Although we understand that the majority of forces currently use DASH it is for individual forces to decide which risk assessment models to use and the training their officers and staff receive.

Prison Service: Corruption

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what anti-corruption measures and procedures are currently in place in the prison service; and what is their estimate of the level of corruption in the prison service.

Lord McNally: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS), in partnership with law enforcement agencies, is fully committed towards preventing, detecting and acting robustly against all forms of corrupt activity.
	A dedicated corruption prevention unit (CPU) continues to work with regional corruption prevention managers, prisons and partner agencies to raise staff awareness, develop an understanding of the extent and nature of staff corruption and where practicable, to prosecute identified instances of corrupt behaviour. Each prison has an identified local corruption prevention manager with responsibility for raising awareness of the risks from corruption, helping staff in reporting and taking forward action in including working with the police in support of prosecution.
	A joint memorandum of understanding was agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and NOMS in October 2008 and gives the primacy for investigating and prosecuting individual cases of staff corruption to the police. Where there is insufficient evidence to support police prosecution, NOMS uses internal disciplinary proceedings to take action, up to and including dismissal, of any member of staff who is found to be involved in corrupt activities
	The majority of staff working in prisons perform their duties with the utmost professionalism and integrity. Criminal activity is by nature covert and difficult to quantify. No organisation, including the Prison Service, can provide accurate estimates of the level of corruption.

Prisoners: Voting

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 21 March (WA 123), which Council of Europe countries do not permit prisoners to vote; of those that do, what are the arrangements in place to enable them to vote; and whether any require prisoners to attend a polling station to exercise their right.

Lord McNally: I understand Lord Howell of Guildford placed information in the Library of the House on prisoner voting rights in Council of Europe member states. This information note can be found at the following address: http://deposits.parliament.uk/
	It can be searched using the following reference: DEP2011-0663 Lords 14/04/2011 Foreign and Commonwealth Office DEP2011-0663.DOC
	The House of Commons Library has separately produced a table showing prisoners' voting rights in a number of Council of Europe member states: http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN01764
	There are gaps in both lists and some slight discrepancies between the two. This will reflect non-responses to requests for information from some member states and the difficulty determining with certainty the precise regimes in place for prisoners voting given differences in political and judicial systems and processes between member states.

Public Expenditure

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide an analysis of the non-identifiable spending over the past five years on recreation, culture and religion as summarised in table 9.12 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2011.

Lord Sassoon: Table 9.12 in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2011 National Statistics release shows that in each of the past five years, approximately one-third of expenditure on recreation, culture and religion was non-identifiable. Expenditure is non-identifiable when it cannot be classified as benefiting particular regions or countries and is deemed to be incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole.
	The table below shows the detail on items of non-identifiable recreation, culture and religion spending, the majority of which is Department for Culture, Media and Sport spending. The largest area of spend is broadcast licence revenue.
	
		
			 Non-Identifiable Spending on Recreation, Culture and Religion (£ Millions) 
			 Dept Name Spending Area 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Business, Innovation and Skills P25 5040244 Spectrum Efficiency Scheme 7 6 0 0 0 
			  P25 SO40281 Arts and Humanities Research Council 0 0 7 8 0 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport P36 S050508 Olympics 0 99 386 1,096 1,088 
			  P36 S180300 Broadcast licence revenue 3,305 3,430 3,558 3,466 3,650 
			 Department of Communities and Local Government  0 0 0 0 2 
			  P08 5500060 Olympics Contributions  
			 Grand Total(£ millions) 3,311 3,536 3,950 4,569 4,740

Public Sector: Marketing

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the finding in the Chartered Institute of Marketing white paper on public sector marketing that to bring about positive behaviour, change needs enough time to embed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Central Office of Information (COI) has published a guide to communications and behaviour change for government communicators. http://coi.gov.uk/documents/commongood/commongood-behaviourchange.pdf.

Railways: Intercity Express and Electrification

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current estimated costs of building the Intercity Express Programme train when built as an all electric version and as a bi-mode (diesel and electric) version respectively.

Earl Attlee: The eventual cost of building the rolling stock is an issue for Agility Trains, the train manufacturer. As the procurement process has not yet concluded, details of Agility's latest costs remain confidential to Agility Trains and the Department for Transport.

Railways: Theft

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government by how much theft of railway cable has increased in the past six years; what effect this has had on the safety, performance and costs of the railway; and what action they will take to strengthen the legislative basis for dealing with the problem.

Earl Attlee: Officials from the Department for Transport met recently with Home Office officials to discuss the issue of metal theft and to explore possible options to combat this crime, which affects not just the railways but also the power supply industry, churches and other historic buildings.
	Metal theft including cable theft has emerged as one of the fastest growing crime types. It hits the railway particularly hard and causes levels of disruption out of all proportion to the value of the material stolen. The increase in cable theft has mirrored the soaring price of copper on world markets. The Deputy Chief Constable for the British Transport Police (BTP), who is also the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for metal thefts, has described the thefts as one of the force's biggest challenges after terrorism. ACPO in conjunction with the Home Office have devised a national four element strategy which focuses on:
	increasing the effort required to steal metal;increasing the risk to offenders;reducing the ease and rewards to offenders stealing stolen metal; andincreasing the risk for the dealers handling stolen metals.
	BTP has a number of dedicated pro-active cable crime teams operating in areas of the country that suffer from cable theft. This year, with the support of Network Rail, BTP is deploying even more officers and crime scene investigators to problem locations. BTP continues to work closely with train operators, other police forces, the scrap metal industry and others with an interest to eradicate the problem. Methods used to deter and catch the thieves include a dedicated BTP task force with increased patrols, intelligence led policing and additional dedicated officers; the use of the Network Rail helicopter, CCTV, forensic marking, trembler alarms and other devices to protect the cable; the introduction of new type of cable that is easier to identify and harder to steal; and fast response teams to get trains on the move as quickly as possible following an incident.
	Information relating to cost of replacement cables and disruption to services is not held by the Department for Transport but by Network Rail. The national figures for cable theft (May 2011) are detailed below:
	
		
			 Financial Year No. of incidents" Delay minutes1 Compensation cost* Total Cost** 
			 2010-11 995 365,265 £12,137,220 £16,510,663 
			 2009-10 656 321,570 £10,931,350 £13,961,998 
			 2008-09 742 283,167 £7,858,516 £12,264,682 
			 Total 2,393 970,002 £30,927,086 £42,737,343 
		
	
	Hours Delay
	2010-11-6,088
	2009-10-5,360
	2008-09-4,719
	Notes
	" Number of incidents which caused delay to the operational network. It does not include thefts from depots, engineering sites or redundant cable.
	1 Delay minutes show the inconvenience experienced by the passenger and vary with each incident. If the theft is on a busy mainline then they rack up much quicker than on quieter suburban lines. Delay per incident is decreasing as Network Rail teams become more efficient at locating and fixing the problem.
	* Compensation costs (known as schedule 8 costs) are paid to train and freight operators for the disruption caused by the delay. This is a substantial part of the cost to the industry of cable theft but does not include the cost of staff time to repair and replace the cable, replacement cable itself and the cost of mitigation measures such as security patrols and investment in new technology. The amount of compensation paid depends on the type of services delayed.
	** Total Cost comprises schedule 8 (compensation to train operators), as well as the average cost of replacement cable; average maintenance cost of attending to the fault and average opportunity cost of diverting this labour from elsewhere.

Railways: Train Design

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the award of the new intercity trains contract to Hitachi, how many jobs created (a) in Newton Aycliffe, and (b) overseas, will be for (1) skilled workers involved in designing and building trains, and (2) assembly and servicing workers.

Earl Attlee: Agility Trains, a consortium of Hitachi and John Laing, remains preferred bidder for the Intercity Express Programme contract. The assembly and maintenance of the new trains will be undertaken in the UK. Hitachi has suggested that at least 500 skilled jobs will be created at the company's proposed new manufacturing and assembly facility in Newton Aycliffe, and many thousands more will be safeguarded in the associated maintenance work and wider supply chain. The company has said that it intends to use local suppliers where possible. It has not identified the number of additional jobs that would be created abroad as a result of the contract.

Railways: Train Design

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any discussions took place with, and any concessions were offered by, the Government of Japan during negotiations with Hitachi regarding the new intercity trains contract about the ability of British engineering companies to compete in Japan.

Earl Attlee: On each of the occasions that the Secretary of State has met the Japanese ambassador to the UK and other Japanese government officials, he has emphasised the importance and benefits of allowing British companies to compete on a level playing field for engineering and other contracts within Japan. Furthermore, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to ensure that this matter is raised in the EU-Japan regulatory reform dialogue.

Railways: Waterloo International

Baroness Valentine: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring Waterloo International station back into use for passengers.

Earl Attlee: The Government wish to see the former international platforms at Waterloo station brought into domestic use.
	DfT and Stagecoach Southwest Trains (SSWT) are currently in discussions to add capacity into Waterloo as part of the high level output specification (HLOS) programme.
	Network Rail is developing plans to accommodate longer trains at Waterloo. The infrastructure requirements for these trains will include bringing the former international platforms back into domestic use, subject to value for money and affordability constraints.

Schools: Streaming

Lord Blackwell: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the latest data obtained by Ofsted on the extent of setting and streaming in schools, broken down by subject and year group; and what guidance on setting is currently given to schools.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Ofsted holds data on the number and proportion of lessons observed during inspections in which setting, streaming or banding by ability is used. Its data do not separately identify these categories. Since the data are based on lessons seen by inspectors, they may not represent arrangements in the school as a whole, and may not therefore be an indicator of the use of these forms of grouping at a national level.
	Ofsted has provided the attached data, which gives summary grouping information for 2009-10 covering English, mathematics and science in primary and secondary schools.
	The department has not provided specific guidance to schools on setting. However, case studies showing the effective use of setting in schools will be made available on the department's website shortly.
	
		
			 Primary schools: Lessons observed on inspection by lesson grouping 2009-10 (all subjects) 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 1 8817 516 8170 131 6 93 1 
			 2 7301 601 6633 67 8 91 1 
			 3 8560 890 7564 106 10 88 1 
			 4 6510 719 5722 69 11 88 1 
			 5 7932 1206 6632 94 15 84 1 
			 6 7047 1532 5453 62 22 77 1 
			 Total 46167 5464 40174 529 12 87 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Primary Schools: Mathematics 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 1 3067 179 2854 34 6 93 1 
			 2 2554 274 2266 14 11 89 1 
			 3 3053 522 2494 37 17 82 1 
			 4 2341 444 1874 23 19 80 1 
			 5 2966 776 2164 26 26 73 1 
			 6 2745 924 1795 26 34 65 1 
			 Total 16726 3119 13447 160 19 80 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Primary Schools: English 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 1 3837 299 3480 58 8 91 2 
			 2 3202 302 2861 39 9 89 1 
			 3 3212 319 2853 40 10 89 1 
			 4 2412 240 2138 34 10 89 1 
			 5 3090 379 2664 47 12 86 2 
			 6 2877 558 2291 28 19 80 1 
			 Total 18630 2097 16287 246 11 87 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Primary Schools: Science 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 1 503 8 485 10 2 96 2 
			 2 406 4 401 1 1 99 0 
			 3 626 10 608 8 2 97 1 
			 4 502 7 493 2 1 98 0 
			 5 543 8 529 6 1 97 1 
			 6 457 15 439 3 3 96 1 
			 Total 3037 52 2955 30 2 97 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondary schools: Lessons observed on inspection by lesson grouping 2009-10 (all subjects) 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 7 4345 1527 2770 48 35 64 1 
			 8 4557 2014 2506 37 44 55 1 
			 9 4736 2209 2491 36 47 53 1 
			 10 4973 2113 2786 74 42 56 1 
			 11 3964 1785 2132 47 45 54 1 
			 Total 22575 9648 12685 242 43 56 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondary Schools: Mathematics 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 7 756 467 286 3 62 38 0 
			 8 697 506 188 3 73 27 0 
			 9 720 531 185 4 74 26 1 
			 10 885 637 246 2 72 28 0 
			 11 737 544 189 4 74 26 1 
			 Total 3795 2685 1094 16 71 29 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondary Schools: English 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 7 743 367 362 14 49 49 2 
			 8 815 462 342 11 57 42 1 
			 9 804 474 324 6 59 40 1 
			 10 890 540 341 9 61 38 1 
			 11 795 515 274 6 65 34 1 
			 Total 4047 2358 1643 46 58 41 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondary Schools: Science 
			  NumberPercentage   
			 Year Group Total Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 Class setted, streamed or banded by ability where pupils are placed within an ability range within the school Mixed ability class Other1 
			 7 479 217 257 5 45 54 1 
			 8 571 362 209 0 63 37 0 
			 9 600 388 210 2 65 35 0 
			 10 746 487 252 7 65 34 1 
			 11 622 403 219 0 65 35 0 
			 Total 3018 1857 1147 14 62 38 0 
		
	
	1 this refers to lessons where other forms of grouping are used

Shipping: Piracy

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Howell of Guildford on 29 June (Official Report, col. 1758) "that armed guards on UK registered vessels would be technically illegal", under what statute that is so.

Earl Attlee: At present, published government policy is strongly to discourage the deployment of private armed guards on board UK flag vessels, but HMG are now considering amending this to a position which recognises that engaging armed personnel is an option for UK flagged ship owners to combat piracy in exceptional circumstances.
	The Home Office is currently looking at the applicability of UK firearms legislation on board UK flag ships on the high seas. If legal opinion is that the Firearms Act 1968 does apply, a decision will need to be made as to whether it is appropriate and feasible to grant the authority of the Secretary of State for the possession of prohibited firearms (classes of firearms that are not sanctioned to be kept on board as part of ships equipment) in these circumstances. On the assumption that the Firearms Act 1968 does apply to UK flagged ships on the high seas, without such an authority it would be illegal to carry such firearms on board UK flagged ships. Even in circumstances where possession of firearms is duly authorised, their use must also be lawful. Use of such weapons other than in self defence or defence of others risks criminal (and civil) liability.

Shipping: Piracy

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many alleged pirate vessels have been intercepted during anti-piracy operations off Somalia by the Royal Navy; how many have been returned to the alleged pirates; and what fuel and provisions have been given to their crews.

Lord Astor of Hever: Since October 2008, when the UK began counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa, there have been 31 separate interceptions of suspected pirate vessels by the Royal Navy. On 24 occasions, those intercepted were allowed to use one or more of the intercepted craft to return to Somalia, with enough of their own fuel and provisions to reach land. On five occasions it was necessary to give the suspected pirates an adequate supply of fuel, food or water to safely reach nearest land.
	In a number of the aforementioned cases, where more than one suspected craft has been intercepted, the suspects have been transferred to one vessel to return to land, and the others destroyed. 20 such vessels have been destroyed to date. Furthermore, five vessels have been returned to their rightful owners.

Shipping: Towing Vessels

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Stornoway and Lerwick based emergency towing vessels will be withdrawn in September; and, if so, what alternative arrangements have been put in place to deal with any future shipping casualties or emergencies in the northern waters of the United Kingdom.

Earl Attlee: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency continues to discuss this matter with all interested parties.
	An announcement about arrangements after 30 September 2011 will be made in due course.

Smoking

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted last year of breaching the smoking ban.

Lord McNally: 78 persons were found guilty at all courts in England and Wales for smoking in a smoke free place in 2010.
	The figures given on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in the spring of 2012.

Social Care: Funding

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources could be made available to improve the funding of adult social care by (a) withdrawing all free television licences for elderly persons; (b) restricting such licences to those who pay no tax or pay tax at the basic rate only; (c) withdrawing all free travel passes to people over 75 years of age; (d) restricting free travel passes to people over 75 years of age; (e) withdrawing payment of winter fuel allowance; (f) restricting payment of the winter fuel allowance to people over 75 years of age; and (g) restricting payment of the winter fuel allowance to those who pay no tax or pay tax at the basic rate only.

Lord Freud: The table below provides estimates of the expenditure associated with various forms of support for older people. The figures are expressed in cash terms and rounded to the nearest £10 million.
	The estimates are based on Department for Work and Pensions expenditure forecasts combined with information on the tax paid by older people from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Survey of Personal Incomes, and information on the overall numbers of pensioners from the Office for National Statistics population projections.
	
		
			 Support for older people, millions of pounds, cash terms 
			  2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 
			 (a) All TV licences 590 620 640 680 730 
			 (b) TV licences for those above the basic rate of tax 20 20 20 20 20 
			 (e) All Winter Fuel Payments 2,140 2,120 2,100 2,090 2,080 
			 (f) Winter Fuel Payments to those aged under 75 1,120 1,090 1,050 1,010 970 
			 (g) Winter Fuel Payments to those above the basic rate of tax 80 90 90 90 90 
		
	
	The Government are preserving key benefits for older and vulnerable people and are committed to protecting the statutory entitlement for concessionary bus travel, ensuring that older people can maintain greater freedom and independence.
	In 2008-09, approximately £860 million was spent by local authorities on reimbursement to bus operators for statutory and discretionary concessionary travel schemes for older and disabled people in England.
	Trip rates among the over 60s from the National Travel Survey 2008-09 indicate that of those bus boardings per person per year by individuals over the age of 60, around 65 per cent are by individuals aged between 60 and 75; and around 35 per cent are by individuals aged 75 and over.
	It could therefore be estimated that (c) costs would be reduced by around £300 million per year if the scheme withdrew free travel passes to people over 75 years of age; and (d) costs would be reduced by around £560 million per year if the scheme restricted free travel passes to people aged 75 and over.
	Cost reductions would be smaller if local authorities replaced the removal of the statutory scheme with a local discretionary scheme.

Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current food security situation in South Sudan and the extent to which those shortages have arisen from drought or conflict.

Baroness Verma: According to the most recent survey by the World Food Programme (WFP), about 12 per cent of households were severely food insecure and 36 per cent could be assessed as moderately insecure. The rate of severe food insecurity is likely to have increased since the last survey mainly due to global and local food inflation: the latter partly caused by border closures with the Republic of Sudan as well as the impact of the influx of returnees and internal displacement caused by conflict.
	The WFP reports that the current drought in the Horn of Africa will effect South Sudan in two ways. The pastoralist belt in Eastern Equatoria is part of the same livelihood zone as Northern Kenya and is therefore also affected by the drought; and the steep increase in the price of maize in Uganda is affecting South Sudan since Eastern Equatoria, Central Equatoria, Jonglei and Lakes States import key food commodities from Uganda, mostly maize grain and maize flour

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the United Nations Mission in Sudan during recent violence.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government of Sudan have the primary responsibility to protect civilians. We are aware of suggestions that UN peacekeepers may not have responded to recent violence as robustly as their mandate permitted. We have encouraged the Under Secretary-General at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to examine these claims.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that violence in Sudan has driven tens of thousands of civilians into hiding in the Nuba Mountains; and what steps they are taking to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to them.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are extremely concerned at the impact on civilians of the ongoing violence in Southern Kordofan, have repeatedly condemned the lack of access afforded to the humanitarian agencies that are attempting to assist those affected, and have called for that access to be granted by all parties. The UK contributed £40 million to the Common Humanitarian Fund in 2011 that will be used to provide safe water, sanitation and emergency shelter to those affected by conflict and internally displaced people in Sudan, including this latest violence. We also allocated a further £15 million for an emergency fund focused on responding to any secession-related crises, which enabled the UN promptly to start the humanitarian response in Abyei and Southern Kordofan.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what ways United Nations Security Council Resolution 1590, requiring "particular attention" to be given to the "protection of vulnerable groups including internally displaced persons" and to "take necessary action to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence" has been put into effect in South Kordofan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: In response to the violence in Southern Kordofan, the UN Mission in Sudan set up an area known as the protective perimeter, adjacent to its own compound in Kadugli, where those that had initially been sheltering in churches and hospitals could be provided with humanitarian assistance. This area had provided shelter for an estimated 11,000 internally displaced persons by 20 June.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they raised concerns about the military build-up of Sudanese Government troops and vehicles in a camp at Kadugli, immediately adjacent to the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) camp; whether they queried the relationship between the two forces; and what was their response to reports that UNMIS officials prevented civilians with links to opposition groups from being given refuge there.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK Special Representative for Sudan first raised our concerns at the build-up and activity of Sudanese armed forces in Southern Kordofan and in Kadugli with the Sudanese Government on 30 May 2011. We have repeatedly made our concerns known since then, including when the Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr Karti visited London on 6 June 2011. We are aware of the reports to which the noble Lord refers, and have encouraged the Under Secretary-General at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to examine these claims.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have sought a witness statement from the Bishop of Kadugli regarding allegations concerning the role of United Nations peacekeepers in the killing of civilians by Sudanese armed forces; and whether they intend to ask for a referral of these killings and violence against civilians seeking refuge in the Nuba Mountains, to the International Criminal Court.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain extremely concerned about the situation in Southern Kordofan and continue to monitor it closely. We are aware of reports, including from the Bishop of Kadugli, that UN peacekeepers may not have responded to recent violence to the extent that their mandate authorised. We have encouraged the Under Secretary-General at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to examine these claims. We will, if necessary, consider action to refer the situation in Southern Kordofan to the International Criminal Court.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the United Nations peacekeepers in Sudan were selected; what role the Government of Sudan played in selecting those United Nations peacekeepers; and whether the suitability of Egyptian soldiers for this mission was queried by other members of the United Nations.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The recruitment of peacekeeping troops for UN peacekeeping operations is a matter for the UN Secretary-General and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The United Nations has no standing army or police force. For every new United Nations peacekeeping operation, the UN Secretariat must seek contributions of military, police and other personnel from member states who are under no obligation to provide them.
	United Nations peacekeeping operations are deployed with the consent of the main parties to the conflict. As a particular conflict develops, worsens, or approaches resolution, the UN Secretariat will normally consult in confidence with UN member states, the parties on the ground, regional actors and potential contributing countries with the aim of identifying possible options for United Nations engagement.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (a) United Nations' and local estimates of the numbers of people displaced in Darfur between January and April of this year; and (b) the humanitarian and security implications for Darfur.

Baroness Verma: We remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur. The United Nations estimates that over 70,000 people have been displaced in Darfur this year through a combination of military campaigns and inter-tribal conflict. We continue to urge that UNAMID and all humanitarian personnel be granted full and unhindered access to those affected.
	We welcome the recent signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur between the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement. We continue to urge all other armed groups to agree an immediate ceasefire and to reach a common agreement based on the Doha Document.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent reports they have received about the humanitarian crisis facing displaced people in Darfur and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the African Union and United Nations hybrid operation in Darfur in protecting civilians.

Baroness Verma: We are deeply concerned about the ongoing fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces and rebel groups that is exacerbating the humanitarian situation in Darfur with over 70,000 people displaced this year.
	UNAMID operates in extremely challenging conditions and is hampered by restrictions to its movement by the Government of Sudan and armed groups. We urge UNAMID to fulfil its mandate, particularly to provide security for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and on the protection of civilians, and to act robustly to the current security challenges it faces.

Syria

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 11 May (WA 246), whether there is any further news of Ms Hassan; and whether they have received any further estimate of the number of human rights campaigners who have disappeared in Syria.

Lord Howell of Guildford: PEN International reported on 8 June that the novelist Raghdah Sa'id Hassan was released on 2 June following a presidential amnesty of 31 May. We are seeking to verify the information, but welcome this news if the report is true.
	I refer the noble Lord to my response of 12 May 2011 (Official Report, col. WA 246) with regard to the estimates for the number of human rights campaigners detained in Syria.

Taxation

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many businesses HM Revenue and Customs has put into administration during 2010 and 2011 following its attempts to collect taxes due.

Lord Sassoon: During 2010 and 2011 (to date), HMRC has sought an administration order from the courts and had the order granted in 51 instances.
	HMRC very rarely puts companies into administration. The figure of 51 quoted above relates to one case involving a number of linked companies.

Taxation: Corporation Tax

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many submissions on devolving corporation tax were made to the HM Treasury consultation on Rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy by the original closing date of 24 June; how many persons attended the high level consultation meeting on 7 July; how this meeting was publicised across Northern Ireland; and which organisations were invited to attend.

Lord Sassoon: Initial analysis suggests that around 450 responses had been received by 24 June 2011 in response to the HM Treasury consultation on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy and that by the time the consultation closed on 8 July, over 700 responses were received.
	Excluding Ministers and officials from the Northern Ireland Executive, NIO and HM Treasury, a total of about 25 people attended the consultation meeting on 7 July. Invitees included representatives from a broad spectrum of organisations. A full list is given below:
	Construction Employers Federation, Queen's University, the Law Society, NI Human Rights Commission, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, NI Manufacturing Group, BDO, Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, Ernst & Young, University of Ulster, the Federation of Small Businesses, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NI Committee), NI Public Service Alliance, Colleges NI, the Economic Reform Group, Committee for the Administration of Justice, Invest NI, the Centre for Competitiveness, NI Food and Drink Association, Ulster Society Charted Accountants Ireland, the Confederation of British Industry, KPMG, Enterprise NI, Momentum, Manufacturing NI, NI Chamber of Commerce, NI Independent Retail Trade Association, and the Institute of Directors.
	The list of invitees was drawn up in consultation with the Northern Ireland Office and the NI Departments for Finance and Personnel and Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

Transport: Public Address Systems

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they publish about the clarity of public address systems on modes of transport.

Earl Attlee: Requirements for clarity in public announcements at stations are set out in the Accessible Train Station Design for Disabled People Code of Practice and in guidance on writing a disabled persons' protection policy for rail operator franchises, both published by the Department for Transport.
	Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 660, the Merchant Shipping (Emergency Information for Passengers) Regulations 1990, sets out a requirement for public address systems for all ships certified to carry more than 20 passengers.
	In addition, there are requirements under the Persons for Reduced Mobility Technical Specifications (PRM TSI) for Interoperability for trains, but these are not published in guidance by the Department for Transport.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands regarding the new draft constitution; and what have been the results of those discussions.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There has been a comprehensive 15 month process of consultation on revisions to the 2006 Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution.
	In early 2010 a UK adviser, Kate Sullivan, was appointed to make recommendations for constitutional and electoral reform. She published an initial set of recommendations in July 2010 and consulted widely, including holding public meetings, in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Political parties, civil society and members of the public had an opportunity to comment. Revised recommendations were published in November 2010 and a draft constitution was published on 8 March.
	A team from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office visited the Turks and Caicos Islands in May for public consultations on the draft constitution. The team held public meetings on all the permanently populated islands and met with a wide range of Turks and Caicos Islands society, including political parties, local communities, the Advisory Council and the Consultative Forum. It heard suggestions on many issues, including the voting system, a transparent path to citizenship and the powers of the governor.
	Following those meetings, the Minister for the Overseas Territories invited a delegation from the Turks and Caicos Islands to visit London from 15 to 16 June so that he could hear first hand their views on the draft constitution. The delegation included representatives of political parties, the Advisory Council, Consultative Forum, the church, the youth ambassador and the chair of the All Party Commission. The talks concluded with the announcement of a final constitution package.

Vehicles: Articulated Trucks

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government what new size of articulated trucks they plan to propose permitting on British roads.

Earl Attlee: The Government's proposals are set out in the consultation document available on the Department for Transport's website. We expect to respond to the consultation in the autumn.

Vehicles: Lorry Semi-trailers

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have received from the European Commission about their proposal for permitting longer semi-trailers of up to 2.05 metres on British roads and whether such a proposal would be consistent with European Union directive 96/53/EC.

Earl Attlee: Since the previous Question on this subject from the noble Lord, officials have received a letter dated 30 June from the Commission. The letter confirmed that directive 96/53/EC permits longer semi-trailers only if the criteria for one of the exemptions set out in Article 4.4 are fulfilled. The Government's view, previously communicated to the Commission, is that our proposals for longer semi-trailers fulfil the criteria for exemption in Article 4.4 (b), because their loading length (15.65 metres) can also be achieved by existing rigid/drawbar combinations. The Commission's letter did not address this point.

Vehicles: Lorry Semi-trailers

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to make a decision about the proposed new size of articulated trucks permitted on British roads.

Earl Attlee: We expect to respond to the consultation in the autumn.

Visas

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of current visa requirements for short-term visitors on foreign artists, photographers and musicians seeking entry to the United Kingdom.

Baroness Browning: Foreign artists of various disciplines successfully use the different routes of entry which the immigration system provides for those coming to the United Kingdom, depending on their purpose in coming and intended length of stay. Tier 5 of the points-based system has a category specifically for creative artists coming for periods of up to a year where the purpose involves paid work. They may currently be granted an additional 12 months maximum period if the original sponsor requires the migrant to stay beyond the original period granted. Creative artists who are non-visa nationals entering the UK for a period of three months or less do not require a visa although they still need a certificate of sponsorship. Outside the points-based system, the entertainer visitor visa enables entry, for up to six months, for those coming to perform at or take part in important cultural festivals and for other specific purposes such as charity events and music competitions.
	The Government are reviewing all immigration routes of entry. We are consulting currently on Tier 5 of the points-based system and will look at the issue of entry by short-term visitors as part of this work.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Browning on 6 July (WA 86), where an employer has agreed a scale rent dispensation with HM Revenue and Customs to reimburse allowable travel and subsistence expenses incurred by employees in performing their duties, whether such payments are excluded from the salary package that counts towards the appropriate salary for issue of Tier 2 intra-company transfer visas.

Baroness Browning: The UK Border Agency will not take into account any payments which are made purely for the purpose of reimbursing expenses incurred by employees in performing their duties as opposed to payments to cover the cost of living in the UK.
	It is not relevant to the decision whether or not an employer has agreed a scale rate dispensation in relation to such payments.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the outsourcing companies Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant Technology Services, when seconding workers to the United Kingdom and seeking intra-company transfer visas, have agreed scale rates with HM Revenue and Customs to cover subsistence, accommodation and business travel-related expense payments made to their seconded employees; if so, whether they will publish those scales; and what are the proportions allowed for each type of payment.

Lord Sassoon: HM Revenue and Customs may agree that an employer can use scale rates for the purposes of determining whether certain expenses payments can be made without deduction of tax and national insurance contributions. Where such scale rates are agreed individually with an employer as part of a dispensation, the agreement is subject to taxpayer confidentiality rules and the information requested in relation to the companies in question is covered by the same rules of confidentiality that apply to all taxpayers.

Young People: Politics

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will encourage young people to vote, particularly those who have not expressed any interest in politics.

Lord McNally: The Government encourage all eligible individuals to engage with the democratic process and to vote. This is especially important among young people, who are traditionally under-represented in figures on registration and turnout. The Government, politicians, political parties, electoral administrators and wider groups with an interest in the democratic process all have a role to play in encouraging participation.
	In particular, the Government have responsibility for the statutory framework for electoral registration in the UK. 16 and 17 year olds can already apply to register as "attainers" to ensure they are able to vote as soon as they turn 18. In the context of the move to individual electoral registration, we are considering how to make it as easy and secure as possible for citizens to register to vote and we are exploring how online services might support this. Further research will also be conducted to identify the groups that are currently under-registered including young people.
	The research findings will be used to inform our approach to improving registration levels among these groups and will also inform wider work to promote public awareness of registration and participation of young people in the voting process.